Grade-indicating device for ditching-machines



1. E. FUNK.

GRADE INDICATING DEVlCE FOR DITCHING MACHINES.

APPLlCATlON FILED FEB. 24, 1920..

369,235. I Patented F eb.22,1921

- INVENTOR. zfolan EJ 2111]:

A TTORNEY Beitknowntha'tl cate the grade of the ditch regardless of a ny F srookroiv, cALIronNIA.

grease.

T 0 all aeneem I -FiTNK-a citizen of the United-States,- residi gatstock ton, in the count iefsan Joaquin-, State of California, have invented certaln ne'W -and useful Improvements --in Grade -Indicating Devices 'for Ditching-Machines and I dodeclare the following to be a ful l fclear and i exact description of thesai'ne; reference-being had to the accompanying draWings,-'and to the characters of 'referencefm' arked there: on, which form a part o'f this application. a

Thisinvention relatesl to improvements: in means for indicating tlie 'grade ofQt-he ditch being; dug relative to the surface of the ground, so thatfthe "operator of the machine may tell at-a glance Whether? the'ditch is 7 ing kept to" gradeiornot.

The principal ebjct 'efthe in tan-as provide a device 'Whifclr'will be carried on J I [a v flexible cord or W1re 13, one end o'fwhichis themachine and 'vvhichw-ill correctly inditempora'ry chan e f elevation of the machine itself due to elevations or depressions of the-ground level. I J This=is especially valuablewhen digging which mustbe reasonably accurate'i A further ob'ect of thei ditchesfortile drains; etc}, the gradef of mention isto pro duce a simpleandinexpensivej device; "and yet one whichv ill be exceedingly :efiecti ve for the piirpo'ses for which it is designedi 1 These objects 1 accdfnplish fbyal'meansi of such structure and 1 relativearrangement ofparts as willfully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims; f In the 'dravvings' sijmilar' characters of reference indicate zorre'spondingparts inii-the several'views i 1 2' Figure 1 isa side outline-eta ditching-imachine,- showing the indicating 3 device inconnection'therewithrdetached: 'v

Fig. 3 is a detached view of'a modified form; of indicator mechanism; r I

Referring noiv' fn'ore particularly characters of reference on thejdrawings,the numeral 1 denotes the chassis of the ditch digger Which has a digger boom2 .pivotally,

mounted thereto and adapted for movement about its pivotal point to adapt it to be 10W:

ered to a-suitable depth to dig'a ditch 3 by means of the digging members 4 operatively mounted to said boom. a Fastened to the boom above ground is a" va marker :weight or plumb ho to the lii niei e i e e erel we Pe e e i 1 1 1 plic a-tiion aa -F'ebaa er, 19 0. serial no. 360,982;

cepta'cleor-tank 6, open' to the atmosphere,

Whi'cl-r-is'lneferably slidable on the post, so

-'-rigid post 5 extending rearwardly beyond that'it maybe positioned directly above the lowest digging point ofthe digger regard? lessfofltsangleof setting.

= Supported from: the chassis -1- to one "side thereof a's'by' a frame 7 positioned at suitable point is another liqu-id retaining tank :8 'slidablef along the frame, of exactly the same cross -sectionalarea-as the "tank 6. i

A flexibletube or hose 9 connects the-two tanks' adj acent the bottom thereof;

is connected a rod 11' projecting upwardly from thetank and guided therein, beingheld against rotation. On the top of the/rod is mounted a grooved pulley 12, onwhich is 'a fastened to the tank, While the other end dehe tank 8.;ha'sa float 1'0 therein'to te pends downwardly outside the tank and has I I b 14: adj ustabl-y. fastened to its'lowenend w ditchz-beingadugu w wThe l'ength of the tanksG and=81zdepends on the range of indicating-desired at one set ting,'.:-while' the diameters thereof may :befjas. small as desired While insuring a float of suf' fi'cient buoyant power tocarry -v the weight; of the rod,-

Thislboblis adapted to -b'e*position'edl adacenta grade. wire 15 supported from the ground andwhich indicatesthe grade of the V pulley and bob Without being submerged: V In operation,-suppose= a ditchis being-dug at a normal depth and it is desired to 1112,1115" gradedesired, and -the--receptacles;-6 and s ,3

" hung in their respective positions and .sub-

stantially on the same level, being then about half filled with Water-,1 and the plumbfb adjusted relative to the ire 15;.',

.LThe two receptacles being connected; the l Water in both Will always be at the same ac- I j tual level.

'Theactu al level of the rear tank 6 isof courseconstant relative to the boom 2.

The forward tank. 8 however, due to inevitable unevenness of the ground is always shifting its'level. Whenever this occurs the Water flows from one to the other, depending on their relative'l'evels-and the float raises;

.' 'andlowers accordingly. This causes'a corresponding but opposite relative movement 7 of the bob 14, so that when the tank 8 raises, and the. water therein is lowered, the bob will be lowered also, and will actually stay at the same level.

' The movement of the bob is twice that of the float, since the change of levelof the water due to a change in elevation of either receptacle is distributed equally -between bothvofthem, 5

When it; is desired to raise the'boom to alter the grade of the ditch as indicated by the grade of thewire as shown, in dotted lines in, Fig.7 2, any raising of the boom of course raises the tankv 6 also, which causes the level of "the water in the tank 8 to be relatively and roportionately raised,

raising the bob 14 a so so that it follows along'the Wire 15. 1

" Y Bv this means the operator can accurately judge as to the proper speed of'raising the J boom. 7

similarly connected to the center of a lever arm 16, one end of which is connected to 5 the tank,the other end having the marker cord 17 depending therefrom. r

"This arrangement of .course also gives a 2 to 1 ratio of the marker relative to the float. )Fromthe foregoing descriptiontit will be .readily seen I c laim as new and useful and desire to sethat I have produced such a device, as substantially fulfils the object o theinvention asset forth herein. a a While this specification sets forthin detail the: present and preferred construction of z the device still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not vform a departure from the spirit'of 'theinven'tion, as defined by the appended claims. 1 c

Having thus described'my invention what cure by Letters Patent is a V 1. A grade indicator for ditching machines comprising a pair of tanks communieating. with each other at their bottoms,

and adapted to be partially filled with liq uid the tanks being of equal cross sectional area, a float in'one tank and a markerwweight operatively connected with said float and pocator comprising a pair of tanks communicatlng with each other at their bottoms,

and adapted to be partially tilled with liquid, one of said tanks being supported from the digger boom of the digging machine in a predetermined vertical position relative thereto and the other tank being mounted to the chassis, a float in the latter tank and a marker-weight operatively connected to the float for vertical movement therewith in a predetermined ratio, the weight projecting down outside the tank and being fixed adjacent the grade indicating lineof aditch.

3. The combination with a ditching machine having a digger boomof a grade indicator comprisinga pair of tanks communieating with each other at theirbottoms, and adapted to be partiallyfilled with liquid, one of saidtanksbeing supported from the digger boomo'f the digging machine in a predetermined vertical 1 position relative v.

. thereto and the other tank being mounted to the chassis, a float inthe latter ;t ank and V a marker-weight operatively connected to V the float for vertical movement therewith,

and adaptedto be fixedfadjacent the grade indicating line of ditch,the tanksbeing of equal cross sectional area and, the weight be ing arranged for relative. vertical movement equal to the movement of veither ofthe tanks. 4;. The combination with a ditching machine having a'diggerbfoom of a grade indicator comprising a pair of. tanks communir adapted to-be partially filled with liquid, the

eating with each other at their bottomS,;.and

tanks being of equal cross sectional area, a

float in, one tank and a marker-weightop eratively connectedwith saidfioat and positioned outside the tank and adapted for vertical movement relative to the tanks-with a change of level ofthe liquid therein at a ratio of 2 to 1 relative thereto, the last named tank being supported from the chassis and the former being supported from thedigger v boom and adapted to be positioned directly above the point of greatest depth of digging thereof. I I

In testimony whereof I'aflix my signature.

- JOHN E. FUNK; 

